deployment project number one - visual countdown

Hello! We are starting to gear up for the big "D" and that means - lots of paperwork and crafting! If it were just Chris and I, this would be a breeze. However, we have a toddler to factor in, and soon, a newborn. I want to be sure to make this process as easy as possible on Conner. Lucas will be too small to remember any of it. I've talked to a few people who have been through it already and read a bunch of ideas on how to make deployment "fun", aka less depressing, on Conner. Despite the popular "Momma's boy" theory, he is ALL about his daddy. Maybe that has a little something to do with the fact that daddy has had to be away for good chunks of time throughout his almost 3 years of life. Either way, I'm going to make this deployment fly by for him as best I can by keeping him busy and sticking to our routine.

First thing I knew I wanted to accomplish was a countdown. I thought about just making myself a chalkboard countdown that said "Daddy Comes Home In XX Days", but come on. Conner is almost 3. He can count to 15 and that is that. Anything above that would mean a whole lot of nothing to him. He needs a visual way of seeing how far we've come and how much longer there is to go. I found the perfect DIY project for our visual countdown. It was simple, fairly inexpensive, and it's hands-on for the kiddo!

Aren't they cute? I got everything I needed for it from Wal*Mart. Two little vases, a small thing of ribbon, letter stickers, and some flat marbles. Everything was in the crafting section. I ended up getting two bags of the decorative marbles because I wanted to do the red, white and blue. One was a bag of different blues and one was a bag of red, pink and clear. I already threw the bags away or I would be able to tell you the exact names. You can change this project up so much to fit your family, though. Maybe your kiddos favorite color is green. They have those! Anyway, the most time consuming part of it all was to count out approximately 9 months worth if marbles. That's about 270, for those of you who are wondering. 

So now that we have our little jars completed, we just wait for the 'see you later' to come. Every night before bed, Conner gets to take one marble from the 'Days to Go' jar and add it to the 'Days Completed' jar. He'll be able to watch the jar fill up while the other one empties and know that he is that much closer to daddy being home again! I have these set up on my little bookshelf in the living room right now. We'll be getting a picture of Chris and putting it in between these two jars so he can say goodnight to daddy every night as well. I can't wait to share all of our other projects with you! Stay tuned. 

To give credit where it is due, I originally saw another version of this countdown for weight loss over here and then changed it for deployment. :)

oven roasted vegetables

I don't know why I haven't made these before. I made a cheese sauce to dip them in. It was horrible. I will not be sharing that disaster of a sauce. Lol. Once I find a cheese sauce recipe that works well, I will pass it along. For now, here is the delicious vegetables that would make a great side. We ate ours as a meal with french bread. By the way, swiss cheese does not melt well in a crock pot. Look at the picture. It was terrible. We live and we learn haha.

Ingredients:

5 small red potatoes

head of broccoli

head of cauliflower 

1/2 bag baby carrots

2 tablespoons olive oil

italian seasoning

Preheat oven to 450F. Spray a large baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray. Cut the small potatoes in half once and then in half again. You can peel them, or leave the skins. Skins are good for you :). Cut up the broccoli and cauliflower into florets. Put all vegetables into a big bowl and toss with the olive oil and seasoning until well coated. Add as much or as little seasoning as you'd like. I used about 1 1/2 tablespoons. Pour your vegetables onto the baking sheet in an even layer. Bake uncovered for 30 minutes. 

chicken enchilada pasta

Spicy food is my weakness. Pasta is my husband's weakness. So what do I do when I find a recipe that caters to both of us? If you answered 'Make a gigantic pot full and devour it', then you are correct! Well, we did not devour it all. There are leftovers in the fridge for another day. Anyway, due to us having to also feed a toddler, I altered the recipe a bit so it was as spicy. You can find the original recipe over here. Her blog is pretty neat.

Ingredients:

2-3 chicken breasts, cooked and shredded

2 tablespoons of olive oil

2 garlic cloves, minced

red bell pepper, diced

medium onion, diced

1/2 teaspoon of salt

2 teaspoons of chili powder

1 teaspoon of ground cumin

19 oz can of red enchilada sauce

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

1 cup of sour cream

1 box of penne pasta

First, I marinated the chicken breasts with a southwest dry rub. Cook your chicken breasts and then shred using 2 forks. Start your pasta and cook according the the package directions. Chop the vegetables while you heat up the olive oil. I suggest on medium-high heat. Cook the onions in heated olive oil for about 3 minutes. Add in the garlic and red bell pepper and cook an additional 3 minutes. Add in the shredded chicke, chili powder, salt, ground cumin and enchilada sauce. If you want more heat, add in a can of diced green chiles. Simmer this lovely mixture for about 10 minutes. Make sure you keep an eye on your pasta! It should be about done now. Drain that and return to the pot. Add the cheese to your sauce and stir it until melted well. Turn the heat down to low. This is VERY important. Add in the sour cream and stir until well blended. Again, LOW HEAT. If not, your sour cream will curdle and that's just nasty. Now you pour your sauce over the penne and mix it up. Ready to serve! You can add whatever toppings you'd like. I personally like black olives and another tablespoon of sour cream on top. 

pallet flag

Oh my gosh, I am SO excited that we have finally completed this project. I saw a picture of a (much nicer looking) pallet flag and wanted to recreate it, making it look more 'rustic'. I should have taken step by step pictures, but I'll explain the best I can.

First, we had to get wooden pallets. We accomplished this by finding some at WalMart. We used 2 of them. Chris removed all of the boards, splintering them along the way. He then pieced them back together, kind of like a puzzle, and nailed them into the base. 

Next, get some red, white and blue spray paint. Make sure it's weather proof if you plan to put this outside. We used duct tape to tape off the section that would be blue. Sprayed that and let it dry. Next, mark where your red/white stripes will be. We did not have room for all 13stripes, however, I made sure we began and ended with red like it should. Alternate the red and white stripes and let dry. I had a nifty star stencil leftover from a previous project, so he used that for the stars. Spray those white. Once it's all dry, you have a nice (or old, weathered looking) American flag!

For the time being, it's just propped up outside a window in the front of our house. I plan to do something else to make it a better decoration, but that's for another time. I have to draw up my plans for that and get the approval from the boss man. :) Overall, it took us less than $6 to make this. We just needed to buy paint. The pallets were free and we already had the stencil, duct tape and nails. Hope you like it as much as I do!